Marin sports history: 1967 was the year for College of Marin football

IT HAPPENED 40 years ago, but to guys who played on the title-winning College of Marin football team, the painful memory still lingers. Over the years, teams have experienced heartbreaking losses and had seasons ruined by last-second freak plays or blown calls at critical moments. But how many teams can you think of that missed a chance to play for a state championship because they lost a coin flip?

It may be hard to comprehend now, given the lowly state of college football at the Kentfield campus, but there was a time when the school boasted one of the top junior college programs in California. As a matter of fact, 40 years ago, Marin enjoyed its greatest season ever, winning the Golden Valley Conference title with a glittering 8-1 record. Then, in one of the strangest twists of fate, a chance for a state title evaporated. The story of what is still considered the greatest COM football team in history is a fascinating one.

As one might imagine, things were certainly a lot different in four decades ago for the team that was known then as the Tars. Marin played its games in a venerable old stadium that sat in the middle of the campus, and the team enjoyed a lot of success throughout the 1960s. Games in those days were major social events for the student body and surrounding community. Loud, knowledgeable and enthusiastic crowds of nearly 6,000 fans used to pack the intimate stadium on a regular basis for those Friday night games under the bright lights.

"We were lucky to have some of the best local high school kids play for that team," said Pete Limm, former Terra Linda High and Marin head coach, who in 1967 worked as COM's offensive coordinator under highly regarded head coach Dick Read.

Marin had a terrific collection of talent that season, with a particularly strong group of running backs. Drake High had been a powerhouse team in the mid 1960s, and a number of their stars went on to play at Marin including standout running Dean Lazzerini. Lazzerini, who also played at UCLA and at Pacific, teamed with former San Rafael star Tim Harr, who went on to play at UC Davis.

Another former Drake standout, power running back Joe DeMasi, provided the tough yardage at fullback. And yet another Drake star, quarterback Billy Ingram, guided a Marin offense that poured out an explosive average of 34.5 points a game. So potent was COM's running attack that former Novato prep star Dick Otis and Tam's standout running back Donnie Smith were reserves, but they provided valuable depth.

Meanwhile, speedy Honor Jackson from Tam, who would go on to played for several years in the NFL, was a dangerous deep threat, A pair of former Redwood standouts - Lenny Pieri and Bill Kilcone - were a terrific pair of possession receivers and teamed up with Jackson to form to form a deadly receiving trio.

Former San Rafael star Doug Dressler, who would also enjoy a pro career as a starting fullback for the Cincinnati Bengals provided protection as a solid tackle on offense.

Other regulars on the offensive line were former Drake standouts Bob Barnecut who played guard, and Lorne Swaney, who played center. Marin Catholic's George Weegan also helped provide protection up front.

Because Read couldn't locate an effective tight end, he designed an offense that used the double-wing formation with Lazzerini and Harr lining up behind the tackles.

"Ingram would check off at the line," Lazzerini said. "Then Harr and I would run a few steps across the line and catch a short pass. We picked up some big yardage that way."

On defense, lineman Rich Woodall, a former Marin Catholic standout, was a force up front, while linebackers Jim Crisp of Terra Linda and Bill Hickerson of Drake roamed the field, creating havoc for opposing offenses. Other defensive standouts included defensive back Carl Steine, and lineman Tom Heacox.

"That team was amazing, because it was a collection of all the top Marin high school players of that time," said lineman Bob Barnecut. "We had played against each other in high school, but we just clicked so well together on the field, it was so much fun."

Foes turned teammates

The familiarity among the players also built up team strength through camaraderie.

"We used to get together and have barbecues during the week." Lazzerini said. "We always had fun together, and it helped build team unity. As a matter of fact, those years I was at Marin were the most fun I ever had playing football."

Having such team unity made life easier for coach Read. He was quiet and easygoing, but very respected by the team. In seven of Read's first nine years as coach, his teams put up winning records, with league titles in '67 and '68 and 15 victories in 20 games those years.

Read knew he had something special in 1967, especially when his team traveled to Redding for a game with Shasta College. About five busloads of fans made the 210-mile trek northward for the contest, and Limm, the hearty assistant coach, remembers how Joe DeMasi kept everybody loose before the game.

"I was in my room at the motel and suddenly I smelled smoke," recalled Limm. "I went outside to investigate, and there's DeMasi and Jim Crisp barbecuing ribs on a hibachi that they must have borrowed. They later told me they did it because they couldn't stand the food in the banquet room, so they decided to cook their own dinner."

Everything went well the next day as Harr had a big game, piling up 228 yards and scoring three touchdowns - including runs of 87 and 76 yards - during a 48-21 rout.

The biggest win of the year was another road victory, this time at Rocklin against Sierra College. The game looked as if it were going to be a disaster for Marin. They fumbled three times in the first half, helping Sierra jump out to a seemingly insurmountable 28-point lead.

COM showed great poise and mounted a dramatic comeback in the second half, sparked by some terrific defensive play, and the passing of Ingram. A turning point came when Tom Heacox nailed Sierra's brilliant quarterback Ivan Lippi with a clean open-field tackle that knocked him out of the game. The defense led by Heacox, Jim Crisp and Bill Hickerson then stuffed Sierra's attack, while Marin's offense finally got rolling. Ingram riddled Sierra's secondary for 200 yards through the air, the last six of them coming with 33 seconds on the clock when he hit Dick Otis for a touchdown that nearly completed the amazing comeback. Now trailing 41-40, Read decided to go for broke and try for a game winning two-point conversion. It was successful and Marin players pranced off the field, winners of their most exciting game of the regular season.

"I think my feet are finally on the ground," an exhilarated Read said afterward.

Big win vs. SRJC

Before winning the GVC, Marin vanquished an old tormentor - beating Santa Rosa JC handily to top their rivals from Sonoma County for the first time since 1947. Marin's only loss that year came at the hands of an always tough San Jose City team.

With an impressive 9-1 overall record, the Tars headed to Salinas to play Hartnell JC for the right to represent Northern California in the state JC championship. The game was played before a wild crowd of nearly 10,000 Hartnell fans at a stadium that was known as the Salad Bowl.

"The coaches told us that 'whatever you do, don't take off your helmets' because the fans down there were really nasty and were throwing all sorts of trash at us," Lazzerini said.

While the atmosphere among the fans was intense, the game lived up to expectations by being a wild, seesaw affair between two evenly matched teams.

"It was terrific game, but believe it or not I don't remember much about it," Woodall said.

If Woodall's memory of the contest a bit hazy, he can be excused. Early on, Woodall was knocked silly when he blasted into Hartnell's star running back Rocky Thompson for a tackle, and Woodall suffered a concussion. Thompson, who would go on to play in the NFL, was a big factor in the game.

In the final minutes with the scored 29-29, Marin had possession of the ball and was hoping to drive for a winning score. Unfortunately, time ran out before they could get down deep enough as the gun sounded the end of the game.

Confusion reigned on the field, as overtime in college football was not used in those days, so the officials huddled in an effort to decide what to do next. It was finally agreed that the winner would be the team that piled up the most yardage, but then another problem cropped up. Hartnell's statistician and Marin's stat man each had conflicting totals on the number of yards their teams had complied, so an immediate decision on who would advance to the title game couldn't be made.

On a coin flip

The long bus ride home to Marin must have been a strange and antsy one for the Marin players and coaches, as their season now hung in limbo. They had no idea of if they would play in the title game the following week, or whether their season was finished. But the next day JC officials came up with a solution that remains infamous to this day. In one of the strangest decisions imaginable, it was decided that a coin flip would determine which team would go on to the finals. Hartnell won the flip and, as expected, Marin players and coaches were aghast that their terrific season had ended in such an arbitrary manner.

"That was the worst possible way to be stopped," Read said at the time. "We had some really fine young men on that team and the coin business was such a shame. I don't know if we'll have a group like that again."

Read was certainly right on that count, as Marin did win another league title in 1968, but their fortunes steadily declined after they lost in the playoffs to Fresno City College. After the 1968 campaign the old COM stadium was dismantled to make room for a new science building, and a new stadium was planned to be built across campus two years later. The new stadium turned out to be a good one, but because of a prohibitive cost factor, the lights from the old stadium weren't moved to the new one, forcing all games to be played during the day.

"The old stadium had such a great atmosphere, with the intimacy of the big crowds, that old scoreboard and clock, and those night games," Woodall said. "I think when they tore the old stadium down, that tore out the heart of Marin football."

Bruce Macgowan, a Marin native living in Fairfax, is a broadcast journalist covering professional and college sports in the Bay Area for 25 years. Macgowan's Marin history column appears monthly. Contact him by e-mail at brucemacgowan@comcast.net